Spontaneous Generation is a story about coming of age in the Sixties (which, of course, oozed into the Seventies)-an American story, both individual and collective, about love and politics, mirrors and passages. I began writing it in 1972, while it was still happening thick and fast . and didn't get around to finishing it until 2005, when I'd reached the age at which remembering becomes easier than doing. The story concerns a girl stuck in right field, a descent into an outhouse, male hair, Free Air, flag tattoos, and what happens to things we think we've gotten rid of.